#68 – Name Changes…

I know the title of this post title is kinda cryptic. It is a story about how I have changed my name over the years, to match where I am in my life. It’s strange to me that something we have to carry with us throughout our lives, we have no control over. I am ⅛ Native American, and I kinda like the idea that they don’t name their children until some particular characteristic exhibits itself.

I asked my mother why she named me “Rodney Joe”, and she being a pretty extreme narcissist, admitted that she didn’t give it much thought. She said she always liked the actor Rod Taylor, so that came to mind. The other was her brother “Joe”. Since my mother burned the bridges to her family at the age of 16, I only met Joe one day of my life.

When I was growing up, I was called “Joe”. “Rodney” seemed like a strange name to me, so I am glad at least “Joe” stuck. I carried that moniker for 19 years when I started my college education. One of the first classes I had, they called the role. There were four other “Joes”, so on the spur of the moment I said I go by Rod. That was the beginning of the “Rod” years which would last for 56 years. During those years, which included my 30-year career as an engineer, the nickname “RJ” was slowly attached to me. Several of my software tools customers in the 400-person engineering organization where I spent the last years of my corporate life called me “RJ”, so that was the beginning of the third name I would go by.

When my wife died in 2021, I took up permanent residence at the retirement community where she finished off her hospice time. Like my transition during my college years, I thought it was about time to re-invent myself for this new phase of life. So, when they asked what my preferred name was, I said “RJ”

So, in my childhood years I was “Joe” and then in my adult/corporate years I was “Rod”, and now that I am in my final senior years I am “RJ”.

---

To close out this post, I thought I would give you another picture of my real-life mosaic of life that resides on a wall in my RetCom apartment hobby/office area.